If you're trying to cut down on alcohol in January, you might be tempted to eke out that bottle of wine for as long as possible - but how long does your favourite tipple stay good for once you've opened it?

Wine educator Collin Lilly of the Andretti Winery in Napa Valley gave Popsugar his expert view on how to enjoy wine at its best, and insisted that for optimum taste you 'need to drink that entire bottle that night'.

He explained that once you've consumed half the bottle or more, there's a gap of air filling the bottle and one the wine is exposed to air the phenols which affect its taste start to 'dissipate and become negative flavours'.

This means that even if you leave the bottle open for a day or two before dipping in again, the taste will already be spoiled as it's continuing to change rapidly and you'll notice the difference even as little as 24 hours later.

'When you open a bottle, it's best to drink it within four to six hours of opening without compromising taste,' Collin said.

By the time it's been open for two or three days, or any longer, it's likely to taste actively unpleasant to some, depending on your standards for wine.

And, according to Colin, the same applies to cooking so think twice before adding a splash from an open bottle that's been languishing in the cupboard if you don't want to ruin the flavours in your dish.

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Another important tip you need to remember for preserving the quality of your wine is to store it correctly.

Alcohol shelf life

Unlike wine, spirits have an extremely long shelf life provided they're stored properly.

Whiskey, for instance, only ages in the cask, but not in a bottle. You should store it at 15.5 to 19.4 degrees in a dark environment, and make sure it's upright so it doesn't come into contact with the cork.

When taken care of properly, whiskey can be kept indefinitely, while the same goes for gin and vodka.

Take care with cream liqueurs however, that will start to spoil over time.

If you've been keeping your bottles with corks in an upright position, you've definitely been storing them wrong.

It turns out that there is a very good reason why winemakers, restaurants and wine snobs keep their bottles in a rack.

Wine critic Joanne Simon told Cosmopolitan: 'Bottles of wine should be stored horizontally to keep the wine in contact with the cork and help prevent the cork from drying out.'

If the cork becomes too dry, it can become brittle and break up, causing it to get stuck in the neck.

Even if you do pull it out in one piece, tiny pieces of cork can still end up floating in your wine.

Simon added that it's best to use a 'smooth, rounded' corkscrew rather than one with a 'sharp, bevelled edge' to avoid breakages.

If you don't have enough room for a wine rack, stick to screwcap wines which don't need to be stored horizontal.